Talking Tax

We are in the heart of tax filing season in the U.S. and, so far, it appears to be going much better than last year. That, however, is an extraordinarily low bar, given that last year's season ran up against the outset of a global pandemic.

On this episode of our weekly podcast, Talking Tax, we launch a two-part series looking at how tax season is going and whether any of the problems from last year still linger. Next week, we will be looking at corporate and business filers. But today the focus is on individuals.

Bloomberg Tax's Allyson Versprille speaks with Aisha Servaty, an attorney and director of Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid's Low Income Taxpayer Clinic. Servaty says many of the problems from last year's filing season haven't been resolved and talks about what state and federal officials could do to fix them.

A $1.9 trillion stimulus package that includes a third round of direct cash payments to American households will likely wind up on President Joe Biden's desk within the next few weeks.

The direct payments are politically popular, but will they become a regular tool in U.S. fiscal policy, even after the pandemic? And if so, is that a good thing? Even among liberal-leaning economists, there is no consensus here.

On our weekly podcast Talking Tax, reporter Colin Wilhelm spoke with Claudia Sahm, a senior fellow at the Jain Family Institute, and Marc Goldwein, senior policy director at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. One is glad to see a new round of payments, while the other thinks they are a mistake. 

Retail investors had the opportunity to make a lot of money thanks to recent spikes for GameStop, AMC, and other stocks. New traders who cashed out big gains in 2020 could face complications this tax season.

Many novice traders used the online trading app Robinhood. The company missed a Feb. 16 deadline to send those clients tax documents needed for this filing season.

For this episode of our weekly podcast, Talking Tax, we speak to Andy Phillips with H&R Block about what you should do if you are short in terms of tax documentation. Phillips tells Bloomberg Tax reporter David Hood that there are ways to avoid penalties from the IRS even if your broker is running behind.

The U.S. has fallen behind other countries’ efforts to police the use of sales-suppression software known as tax zappers.

That’s according to Richard Ainsworth, a tax law specialist and adjunct professor at New York University Law School and Boston University School of Law.

When a retailer plugs a tax zapper into a register, the technology can essentially make certain transactions disappear. Businesses can then underreport their sales in the hopes of lowering their sales tax bill.

On this episode of our weekly podcast, Talking Tax, we hear from Ainsworth about the widespread use of tax zappers. He tells Bloomberg Tax staff correspondent Michael Bologna about what other countries have done to crack down on zappers and the approaches some states are taking to do the same.

"In retrospect, I had no idea what I was getting myself into."

Lafayette "Chip" Harter joined the Treasury Department in 2017 as deputy assistant secretary for international tax affairs. He quickly became the Trump administration's point person on negotiating with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which is trying to broker an international agreement to rewrite decades of global tax rules.

Having now left the government, Harter sat down with Bloomberg Tax reporter Isabel Gottlieb on the latest episode of our weekly podcast, Talking Tax. Harter discusses the current status of negotiations and previews how the Biden administration could influence the process.

President Joe Biden's campaign promises to raise taxes on corporations and the wealthy got a big boost when Democrats swept the Georgia runoffs, giving them control of both the House and the Senate.

One of Biden's major tax proposals, pitched as part of his "Made in America" plan to boost manufacturing, is to overhaul the 2017 tax law's international provisions. New Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is among those interested in reworking the tax code to make it less attractive for U.S.-based multinationals to do business overseas.

Any of Biden's proposed tax code changes will run up against the same challenge: how to balance the desire to raise revenue with the need to boost the pandemic-ravaged economy. At the same time, the IRS is working to implement a slew of pandemic relief laws passed last year.

The latest episode of our weekly podcast, Talking Tax, rounds up highlights from a Feb. 4 Bloomberg Tax event. First, Wyden speaks with editor Sony Kassam about his priorities now that he has the Finance Committee gavel. Next, reporter David Hood questions tax executives at IBM Corp. and PPG Industries Inc. about their pandemic concerns. Finally, reporter Allyson Versprille sits down with Sunita Lough, IRS deputy commissioner for Services and Enforcement, to discuss the agency's pandemic-related challenges.

The architects of the 2017 tax code overhaul had lofty goals: They predicted the law would make filing your taxes easier, boost wages and investment, and cut tax rates without increasing the deficit.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 made broad changes to the tax system, lowering corporate and individual rates, boosting the standard deduction, creating new incentives, and overhauling the way multinational companies are taxed.

On the latest episode of our weekly podcast, Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax reporter Lydia O'Neal spoke with Tax Foundation economist Erica York and Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy senior fellow Matt Gardner about which of the law's stated goals came to fruition.

The second round of the Paycheck Protection Program reopened with fewer bumps for struggling businesses and small lenders that work with under-served communities.

The program, revived by the latest Covid-19 relief law, facilitates government-backed small business loans that can be forgiven if used to cover employee salaries and other eligible expenses. The relaunch gave a head start to small lenders, including community development financial institutions, which serve individuals and businesses that don't have access the regular banking system.

On the latest episode of our weekly podcast, Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax reporter David Hood speaks with Tommy Espinoza, president and CEO of Raza Development Fund. The Phoenix-based lender, which has more than $400 million in assets, offers loans and technical assistance to the Latino community. Espinoza discussed how his organization managed a deluge of PPP applications in the first week and offered suggestions to further improve the program.

The pandemic-induced economic downturn has been a huge challenge for states trying to make their budgetary ends meet. Now, some lawmakers are looking to offset a drop in sales taxes and other revenue with new levies on digital advertising.

Darcy Kooiker, a partner with Armanino in Bellevue, Wash., who specializes in state and local tax issues, says several states are already trying to roll out taxes on this famously difficult-to-tax sector. With many states kicking off their legislative sessions this month, more will likely follow, she told reporter Amanda Iacone in the latest episode of our weekly podcast, Talking Tax.

The stimulus bill signed by President Trump was significant not just for its size but also because many lawmakers inserted tax items into the bill they'd been wanting for some time to become law.

On the latest episode of our weekly podcast, Talking Tax, host Amanda Iacone talks with Capitol Hill reporter Kaustuv Basu about what was in this bill and about why it will likely be far from the last financial aid package to come out of Congress. Kaustuv also speaks about the Jan. 6 siege of the Capitol building by pro-Trump rioters and about what it was like as a Capitol Hill reporter to watch this take place.